


A Second Chance

by detective_prince



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Depression, Humanstuck, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, Post-Apocalypse, Post-Nuclear War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-26
Updated: 2014-10-05
Packaged: 2018-02-18 21:36:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2362928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/detective_prince/pseuds/detective_prince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a destroyed area of the country there's no hope for Karkat Vantas.  The war has been going on for years and it still hasn't ended. He's got no reason to live and no one to turn to with his lavish life gone and family dead. Though, can a figure from his childhood change everything?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lost

**Author's Note:**

> I've done something like this in the past with a different fandom and think it may work better like this. More characters and pairings will be added as they come into the story.

Karkat Vantas stared out into the distance, looking at where his home used to stand. The crackle and pop from the fire still ringing loudly in his ears, though he stood out of range. Distant screaming, yelps of pain and agony haunting him, though it had only stopped less than a minute ago. The orange flames licking away the wood of the house he had built with his older brothers, gone into ashes. A constant reminder of the flame stained his pale skin black. Everything he had known for the past years gone in the ashes in the fire only a few miles north. The trembling teenager leans against a tree sobbing lightly, he lost his entire family in that fire. He had gotten caught in what he had been running from all of his life.

A war had broken out the year Karkat was born. World War Three left him devastated. Both Karkat’s mother and father had enlisted in the military by the time he was five. Little five year old Karkat grew up knowing only to cower and to stop expecting his parents to come home to him. Though he can barely remember them, he was devastated to hear of their deaths only a short six months later. It’s completely understandable as to why he feared the bombs more than the other children in his class.

The only safety he felt he really had were his older brothers, who had no idea how to raise a young child growing up in a terrible environment. Both boys had grown up in the best of times in the country. Only short years before the world war the country had been in it’s peak. It was an amazing place to live in before the war. Beautiful forests, trees, and new hybrid flowers surrounding all the houses. The technology was truly something to see. The metallic plants that functioned like clockwork, the virtual simulations that were so lifelike they could be mistaken for actuality, the cars flew like the airplanes of old had, the stem cell experiments that made it possible to grow most of the food and such whenever needed, and so much more. All gone. All destroyed in under a minute.

Karkat and his siblings were so fortunate to escape to the forest, one of the few locations left untouched by the bombs and radiation, with the other survivors. The remaining members of what was left of their beloved city’s population quickly began work on assembling a small village that consisted of wooden cabins. It was a horrid nightmare to build everything from scratch, as buildings hadn’t been made by hand in decades. One of the men had been a history professor at the local college, he had barely been able to remember how a simple cabin was built, but all the others had come to the agreement that a wooden cabin was much better than a hut made from sticks and mud.

That became home to them. A struggle due to a relaxed and let back society when robotics could take care of everything, but a home nonetheless. It took long months to learn how to hunt and gather, how to clean and cook, and so many more tasks that needed to become part of an everyday life. No one had realized how dependant they were on technology. Or how tough the people of the past had lead their lives compared to them. It was strange, tough, challenging, and felt oh-so-impossible to do a single task without a computer or instruction booklet. They feared they would never be able to accomplish all the wonders they used to have before the war.  
Karkat Vantas, one of the youngest of the able workers, had different concerns than how to live his day to day life. He could handle less work than the adults and would often be set aside in worry he would hurt himself or strain something. The treated him as if he was delicate. While everything hit him the hardest, he needs distractions. Distractions the adults refuse to supply. He was bored constantly, painstakingly bored. Nothing to to do, nowhere to go. No sports to play, no spare paper or pencils to draw with, no others to talk to. Of course there were chores he could do, but washing clothes with the women was repetitive and dull, as he was nowhere near as good or as strong as many of the other young men and ladies close to his age when it came to any other tasks.

Though those were important worries to him, there was one more important than the rest. His parents graves. Karkat had visited them daily in a struggle to hold onto them as long as he could. Now, he had to let go of that part of his day and it felt like a knife being stabbed through his heart. When they had been running his only concern was his parents. He felt like he was abandoning them after she had promised them to visit daily, so it wouldn’t feel as if they had fully left.

His brothers had made a promise as well. One that was broken, but not by their own intentions. In order to get Karkat to run as far as he could into the woods, they had promised they would never leave him on his own without family or protection. They wouldn't do what their parents did to him. His oldest brother was the first sibling to go, as he spotted a soldier who was scouting out the path, the soldier shot the peaceful man on sight. The other lasted so long, up until the very end. He died when another small band of soldiers came and set fire upon the small village they had been staying in for the night. In between these two deaths of Karkat’s family the other camp members were picked off slowly as well, resulting in all, excluding Karkat himself, to die one way or the other. Karkat was alone, truly alone for the first time in his life

The teen could barely take it. Over those years the boy’s faith in life had slowly, but surely faded. It was quite clear if you’d met him. When Mrs. and Mr. Vantas had passed, he refused to talk to most people, only speaking during school and on occasion at home. He lived a life constantly in fear something were to happen to him. The day the bombs went off, he stayed home, in fear something bad were to happen, his older brothers gave up trying to force him out and the trio of siblings stayed home. Fifteen minutes into the school day the first sign their country was joining the war showed through. As they lived in one of the most populous cities it was only to be expected they were to be a target in some horrible case. And they were.

The men in huge suits came in surveying the damage, patrolling the streets for civilians who were just out of the attack radius, and barging into occupied houses. The Vantas siblings were quick to begin their attempt to flee, but not before Karkat broke into tears, attempting to stand his ground. It was a fight to drag Karkat away from the house, but it was accomplished after much debate between his older siblings. Karkat lost faith in the world that day. He can vividly picture that entire day as if it had only happened moments ago, it had been several years.

The thing that broke him was the fire. He couldn't bare to move from the tree he was leaning against, though he knew no good was to come from that. What was there to look forward to anymore? At least when he lost his mother and father he had someone with him to urge him there was a new and better life to strive for. Now what was there? Death? Fear? Ruin? If he just kept going he could make it to another town close by, but was he emotionally strong enough to get there? The only reason no one had gone off to the town was in fear of being shot down by the soldiers, but now he had nothing to fear. Nothing to live for. Nothing to lose.

The broken boy stumbled off. He had a good pace and ran strong for awhile, but then he tripped. He winced in pain and stayed down. He cried streams and lied on the ground trembling, not wanting to go on. He collapsed, the mental breakdown caused him to faint. Moments later, a young man found him, as he was exploring where such a large fire came from. He had picked up the unconscious brunet after checking for a pulse. Maybe there was still a chance at hope for him.


	2. Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat finds himself in a new place.

It took a few hours for Karkat to regain consciousness after passing out and being carried to that village he had been so desperate to reach. He groaned softly, sitting up and looking around him. This place wasn't the area in which he had fallen unconscious, that was one thing he was certain of. So, where was he then? This obviously wasn't the outdoors anymore. As much as he was tempted to ask someone where he was, he wasn't able to do so. He was completely alone at the moment. Clearly, he was left in nothing but the best of care.

The room was rather tiny, but it was lovely to finally be in a safe place. It wasn't overly loud like in the other indoor places he'd been. He wondered if it was the nearby town he'd been striving to get to. Or had he been captured by solders? They could probably find use of a teenager. He wouldn't put it past the enemy with all he had been told. Most of it was likely false, they'd been fed quite a bit of information of the years of war. There was no way all of it had been true, right? He had no clue. He had been young and often isolated as a child, chances of him truly knowing were slim to none. He loved books, not the media that they were constantly bombarded with back before the major city was attacked.

Karkat had tried to get out of bed, but that was when the door to the white walled room swung open. "I don't believe that's a good idea, sir." A woman spoke with a soft smile, walking over to him. She gently put her arms on his shoulders, guiding him back down to the bed. "You had very mild radiation poisoning, but it wasn't safe to let it go untreated. Of course, we have to do a few more tests regardless just to make sure you'll be fine to walk among the rest of our citizens. We wouldn't want more panic if you passed out again if we can help it. You seem fine and the medication seems to be working based off of the changes in your blood tests. You've also been unconscious for four days now, so the boy who brought you here will probably want to see you soon.." 

He raised an eyebrow. "And why would you let him?" He was cautious with his language, at least more so than usual. The woman seemed kind and adults typically reprimanded him when he swore as he usually did. It wasn't something he was currently looking for, as he was actually starting to feel a bit dizzy now that his condition had been mention. His previous confusion had blinded him to the pain and discomfort that was currently there. Damn, did trying to stand do a number on him. At least the woman was propping him up in the uncomfortable bed so he wouldn't have to lay down he entire time. He struggled to read the name tag on her scrubs, she hadn't stayed still long enough for him to read it.

"He wants to see you. Besides, a little company may do you some good. So, before I go and get you your meal, is there any chance I can get your name? Dave keeps insisting he knows you, but I can't be sure until I hear it from you, dear." He wants to see you? Some company would do you good? It sounded like bullshit reasoning to him. The guy probably just wanted to be thanked for saving his life. As if he would. He didn't need to be saved that day. He would have been fine wasting away on the ground.

"Karkat Vantas."

"Alright. I'll be back shortly." With that the woman left him on his own. He sighed, staring up at the bright white ceiling on his own.


	3. An Old Face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant for this to be longer, but I had also felt bad for taking so long to update. So, hopefully the next chapter will be longer and out faster.

It's a half hour before the woman comes back into the room with a small cart and another teen by her side. He looks like a douche, wearing a stupid pair of sunglasses inside of the room. Sure, it was bright in there, but it wasn't _**that**_ bright. He was attractive though, there was no denying it. His hair seemed almost pure white, almost matching the walls, had it not had a faint darker tint to it. He had fair pale skin, much like Karkat's. No, he must have been even lighter than that. It was actually rather unusual, but in the most beautiful of ways. It was then where Karkat realized he may have been putting far too much thought into this. He was clearly still ill to be thinking those thoughts. Yes, he'd always found guys somewhat attractive, but he never started to swoon over another's appearance so quickly. In all fairness, the other was starting to do the same. While he couldn't see his eyes, the faint smirk made it feel like an obvious point. 

The woman placed his food on the bedside table, smiling softly. "I'll be out in the hall, if there's a problem don't hesitate to call for me. I suppose I should apologize for your visitors actions in advance if he decides to do something stupid."

"Chill, Ms. Rosa, I'm too cool to do something stupid." The douche bag spoke rather nonchalantly, waving her away. Wow, how fucking rude. At least Karkat was trying to be polite to her, even if he wasn't exactly thrilled to be. She was a nice woman and deserved to be treated the same in return. She hadn't actually seemed phased by him though. She had simply laughed and took the cart out of the room. Why didn't she care more?

"I can't believe it.." The platinum blond mumbled, walking towards Karkat once the door was closed.

"Can't believe what, dumbass?" He spat, trying to show this visitor he was not at all pleased with his company. Well, he might have been just a little pleased to see someone after being left alone in the room for thirty minutes. It had felt like hours and he had nothing to look at besides the white walls and ceiling. Though, he was a bit curious as to why the other male was making such a big fuss over seeing him. Really, most would have probably turned him over to the hospital staff and left with the way things tended to work now among others. You couldn't really trust those who you didn't know. It had always been somewhat like that even before though, people just made more of an effort to pretend to care. It was all for the media, right? It wouldn't look good to abandon a sixteen year old boy in a new place where he knew no one. But media was a thing of the past in these parts. A news article was far different than a news station on TV, no one would be there the minute some stranger appeared in a hospital poisoned from the radiation from the bombings. No, the news was to cover where they were supposed to be in this war. The capital was allegedly still okay, which meant they were still fighting. Though, defending the people clearly wasn't the easiest task, with the way so many were losing their lives without even stepping away from their home turf.  

"It's actually you. Geez, it's been a while, hasn't it, Karks?" Really, the brunet had no idea why the other was talking to him like that. Why was he being so friendly? Why was he acting like they knew each other? In Karkat's mind they'd never met. This was just some creepy asshole that knew him somehow. Maybe he was one of his parent's friend's children? He never really bothered to remember most of them. It was pointless. They faded from his life a few years after Karkat had lost his parents. His brother's-- No, he wasn't going to think of them. He couldn't risk tears near this new person.

"I obviously have no fucking clue what you're talking about. Or are you too much of an imbecile to get that?" He huffed, eyes narrowed at the blond before him. How did he not get the point? Was he really so much of a child that he couldn't accept the fact that he wasn't recognized? Karkat's always hated people like that. Attention whores who felt all should know them truly have always been the worst, no one can convince him otherwise.

"Oh, right. It's been a few years.. I guess you really did forget, huh? I thought we were closer than that.." He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "I'm Dave..." He huffed at the lack of reaction from Karkat. "Dave Strider. The only person who wasn't a total dick to you in elementary school."

Oh shit, now it was Karkat's turn to feel like a total asshole. This had been the only kid willing to spare him a moment of peace at school. He actually defended the Vantas when the other kids in the class would pick on him or insult him. Now the poor guy looked offended too. Oh God, he felt like a complete jerk. It's not like it was completely his fault. Dave had looked like a total dork as a child. Maybe the off-white hair and the shades should have given it away though. Wait, the shades were different weren't they? They had to be. The others were some totally lame pointed anime glasses he used to wear. Okay, he looked way different. Work with this, Vantas. Make him feel less disappointed. 

"Seriously? I could barely tell. It bet it was those fucking shades. Or the fact that you're no longer a short as fuck dork. You're forgetting that puberty does some shit that makes you look like a brand new person, Strider."

That earned a momentary smile from the blond. "So, you do remember then. Sweet." He sat on the edge of his old friend's bed. "I've been worrying about you, man. I thought you were dead when I saw you out there."

Karkat smiled. It was nice to see someone gave a fuck about him, maybe there was something to be found in his old friend. The guy still cared enough to want to see him when he woke up. 


End file.
